


Blood and Ivory

by Tallulah



Category: Death Note (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Anxiety, Body Horror, Canonical Character Death, Dreams, Gen, Nightmares, Teeth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-06-26
Updated: 2008-06-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:20:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25525810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tallulah/pseuds/Tallulah
Summary: Three dreams of teeth.
Relationships: Takada Kiyomi/Yagami Light
Kudos: 5





	Blood and Ivory

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written for prompt "Teeth" for dn_contest on LiveJournal.  
> If you are squicked by teeth falling out, you may not want to read this.  
> Closer to anime canon in how Takada's last conversation with Raito is presented.

She first dreams about her teeth falling out when she is fourteen.

_She is at school, and opening a lunch wrapped in a red cloth. Her mother is at the front of the classroom, and she is worried that the others will laugh at her because her mother has come to school with her. To give her the lunch. And no one else has a red cloth. She starts to eat, and suddenly she finds little hard stones on her mouth, and she spits, coughing as one almost falls down her throat, and she realises it's her teeth. And it's class now and she has to finish her lunch but she can't because she can't chew, and the teeth patter onto her tongue and she wants to spit them out but she can't because class has started, and she still has her lunch on the table and she can't finish it._

(She wakes up wanting to be sick, positive that little lumps of ivory are stuck in her gullet. In the darkness, her wide bookshelf and her tidy desk and the clean new school uniform hanging on the wardrobe door have all been swallowed up and there's nothing which makes her Kiyomi Takada who got the best score in school on the entrance exam; she is just a little girl trying to get up the courage to climb out of bed, put the light on and smile at her reflection.)

Three days later she starts high school, and she is made class representative, and she quickly realises that she's still much better at getting high scores than any of her classmates, and so that means she isn't scared of them any more. 

She next dreams about her teeth falling out when she is eighteen.

_She and Raito are on a bus. It's dark, except for dull red lights above the seats - as if they're going to be travelling all night - and she keeps looking at Raito because he's talking and she can't hear him and she's trying to read his lips. And there is something lurking in the darkness by her feet but if she draws her knees up to her chest then Raito might look up her skirt, or might think she _wants_ him to, and she's not like that._

_Raito says something to her, and she can't ask him to repeat it because she'll look stupid, and she isn't, even though he's cleverer than her. But he says it again, and she realises he is warning her, and then there's a crash and they fly forward and the seat in front slams against her mouth, and she realises it's knocked out her teeth and there is blood oozing down her chin, she can see her own face and her mouth crying red. And she has to put her hand to her lips and sit quietly for the rest of the ride and not talk so that he won't see, and down by her feet, the something has picked up her teeth and sooner or later it will -_

(She wakes up aching with imagined pain, and runs her tongue over her teeth several times. She wants them to feel perfect, but her mouth tastes of morning breath. Outside, the dawn is pale and empty, and clings to her desk, to her notes and folders and to the deadline reminders and timetables pinned to the wall. After a few seconds, she remembers that Raito has left and didn't even bother to say goodbye, and, from the yawning sleepiness, she drags up some irritation at herself that she is bothering to dream of him.)

Three years later she graduates from Tokyo University, and if she isn't the highest-achieving that's all right, she knows now that there are others more perfect than her, and she quickly realises that if she's ever going to be deserving of someone like that she can't sit around and brood, she can't let it hurt her, and so that means she isn't scared of being abandoned any more.

She next dreams about her teeth falling out when she is twenty-four.

_**Help me** , she says to Raito. **It hurts -**_

_And he is caressing her jaw, which feels so tight, so tense; she can hardly open her mouth and she is crying because she's frightened she won't be able to breathe. They're in a hotel corridor and the staff have already switched all the lights off; in the TV studio they're all waiting for her but how can she be Kira's spokesperson when she can't speak?_

_Raito slides two of his fingers between her teeth, into her mouth, and she is frightened she'll hurt him, but then he arches his hand and she cries out because it will hurt _her_ , she knows it, and she shouts at him **you're making it worse!** And he says **Of course I'm not. I'm making it better**. And then he wrenches his hand away, and her teeth - too large, each one the size of the first joint of her thumb - come falling out and she catches them in her palms and the roots are bloody and she screams._

(She wakes up rubbing her hands against her bare arms and stomach until the feel of blood and ivory has faded from her palms, and then she wants to put her arms round Raito, rest her head on his chest, see him mumble in his sleep and pull her closer; but he's never been a cuddly sleeper. The lights of the Tokyo Tower tint the whole room gold in the darkness; dance on the chandelier and glimmer in the surface of the dark, glossy desk and wardrobe. Perfect, anonymous luxury, and she bites her thumb to prove she can and reminds herself of how lucky she is.)

Three days later Raito murders her, and when she hears him hang up on her as she sits cold and grimy with her whimpering echoing off the metal sides of the truck and her hands and arms smeared with red, she quickly realises that she has overestimated him and that she is scared of being abandoned after all, and she is burning papers and clothes without knowing why and she wants to stop, she wants to stop so desperately, but she can't, and she is watching the flames, and she is oh, so scared of dying.

Her teeth survive the blaze, and she is identified by her dental records.


End file.
